Problem with abused dog while at work :-/

[moosedude]

Hello everyone!

I am having a little problem with one of my dogs. We got him from a tierheim. They got him from an abusive home. We have had him for almost 1 year. He is scared of everything! He is sort of begining to like me (I have the food, and leckeries :-D). I have NEVER hit him, or been mean to him. My wife used to be home all day and would give them little leckeries all day... Now my wife is gone, and I still have to goto work. I give them all leckeries in the morning and when I get home. I began taking them for long walks when I come home at night. That is when the problems started.... I started taking them for short walks, and worked up to 1.5 hours. When we came home, I would be tired, and they were ready for another walk! The next day, he started to eat everything he could find... I gave them all leckeries when I came home. I worked with them trying to teach them how to jump, and even had the Kong balls for them to work with... It seems like he is now smarter then me... I put up things to block rooms that I do not want them to go into while I am gone. He has all day to think and figure out how to get in. For the last 2 weeks, I come home and find the Gelbe sack open, trash all over, and urine over the Gelbe trash...

How can I teach him NOT to do this? I started putting the gelbs sack in the dog kennel!!! That worked for the Gelbe, but not everything else. He has found all my cholocate (even the sholocate that I forgot about) and ate it during the last week! I know it is very poisonous for dogs, but he found it where I thought he could not get! He is jumping with his front feet on the table, shelves, kitchen counter, windows everything he can reach...

Any ideas / suggestions anyone has would really help!

Thank you.

Moosedude

[Kathrin1982]

Did u try to put him into the dog kennel?
I nearly had the same problem with my dog.I put her into the kennel when i left home.
A few months later she was able to stay at home without making any trouble.

[moosedude]

Did u try to put him into the dog kennel?
I nearly had the same problem with my dog.I put her into the kennel when i left home.
A few months later she was able to stay at home without making any trouble.

When I come home and find a mess, I let them all outside. When he comes back in, I have the leash and I walk him and let him see the mess and urine. I them immediatly put him into the kennel. After 30 minutes, he is barking so loud, that I have to let him out.

My neighbor comes avor during the day to let them all outside. I thought this would help, since I am gone so long during the day... I thought about placing him into the kennel while I am at work. But with his background of being abused, I did not want him to be more scared of me. I also think it is unfair to place only him into the kennel, and leave the other 2 out to do whatever they want, and he is stuck...

Moosedude

[Gast]

Dear Shannon,

how long are you out for working all day? How many hours are the dogs alone now? Please don't put him into the kennel for more than half an hour (or an hour at most). It won't solve these problems you have. Far from it! Your dog seems to be totally confused with this new situation. Maybe you can bring him to a dogsitter during your work. Is this possible?

[moosedude]

Dear Shannon,

how long are you out for working all day? How many hours are the dogs alone now? Please don't put him into the kennel for more than half an hour (or an hour at most). It won't solve these problems you have. Far from it! Your dog seems to be totally confused with this new situation. Maybe you can bring him to a dogsitter during your work. Is this possible?

I am at work almost 11 hours. My neighbor comes over to let them out 1 time per day while I am at work. I let them outside in the morning for 15-30 minutes to "do their business" before I close the house.

About him being confused... He has been with us for almost 1 year. The problems started when I took them for long walks. It is like he was mentally asleep, but the walks woke him up, and now he is bored. At least, that is how I am interpreting his new behavior... The other day, I left the house to goto Subway and get myself some dinner to bring home. When I came home, he was in the trash again! I was not gone longer then 20 minutes, and he was making a mess....

A dogsitter... I thought about that. He really likes Toffee (female). She tollerates him, but that is all. Taking him to the dogsitter alone is not a good idea. Taking Toffee and him sound good, but then Feebee is all by herself all day. Taking all 3 dogs to a dogsitter is also an idea, but I think it would be expensive, and I like the idea of the dogs guarding the house while I am gone..

Moosedude

[Sternenstaub]

Hello! :-)

For 11 hours staying alone is a very long time - als for three dogs.
How long let your neighbor the dogs outside?
Oh... my english from school isn´t good.
If you had the possibility to contact a school for dogs based of psychologic maybe they can help you.
I think your dog ist unhappy about the long time without you.
Maybe you´ll can try to go a longer walk in to the morning bevor you left the home?

[Gast]

In any case please don't even think about to let a dog in a kennel for eleven hours. It's possible that being alone now is a subject of fear. So he start the mess when you just out for some minutes.
Could you take him with you for a while? Or maybe you start with a dogsitter or maybe you put him to a dogsitting-center where he can meet other dogs. So you could leave Feebee and Toffee at home.

[Ias86]

I think its not the time to discuss why and how long they are alone!

Is there a possibility to put every stuff away? So he can´t do anything?
I am not sure if there is any possibility to teach him because he is so afraid
Sorry for no better solution!

[Gast]

I think its not the time to discuss why and how long they are alone!

No one here discuss why moosedude has to go to work.
But the kennel issue is part of this thread. Therefore it's time to explain why this could be a disaster. Moosedude needs help. The situation is really serious. He can't put away all the things around. Look:

He is jumping with his front feet on the table, shelves, kitchen counter, windows everything he can reach...

[beagle-lou]

Hi Shannon,

I think you might be quite right with your thoughts about his behaviour.
From what you write, I also think he's bored.
I've got a lad like this here as well... as soon as he's not been mentally and physically busy enough on that day, he loves to do such things as emptying the Gelbe Sack bin.

Some thoughts, just in key words, for quick help and longterm help:

- have you thought about keeping him busy with things like "Rinderkopfhaut" or "Rinderschaufelknorpel"? You can get these in your local shop or online and depending on their size, they keep a dog busy for almost an hour. And chewing is exhausting (you should be at home though, when you give them these things)

- nosework is really exhausting and you don't need to go outside, especially when your tired. You might wanna google "ZOS" or go to the website spass-mit-hund.de for ideas.

- I think you should definitely think about bringing the 3 doggies to a sitter, or have someone come over to your house, because no matter how busy you can keep the active one, the behaviour is self-rewarding and will reappear on a regular basis. Are there nice teenagers in your area? This might be an idea... or someone who's taking them for a longer walk with nosework, e.g.?

- a short time help might be to make him tired by letting him run next to you on the bike --> but that's not a very good solution because he'll become a trained runner and then you need to make him run longer in order to tire him out...

- maybe you wanna consult a dog training school? They might be more helpful, as they are able to literally see the problem...

All the best (especially for your nerves)
Carmen

[Ias86]

No one here discuss why moosedude has to go to work.
But the kennel issue is part of this thread. Therefore it's time to explain why this could be a disaster. Moosedude needs help. The situation is really serious. He can't put away all the things around. Look:

You missunderstood me!!!

[Anja+Lara+Leo]

Shannon, geht es hier um den Labrador Pepponi?

(In deiner Vorstellung hier steht, dass du Deutsch lesen und verstehen kannst.)

[Joy1996]

Mein Englisch ist jetzt auch nicht das Beste....
Eine gute Hundepension leitet doch Mirjam Cordt in deiner Nähe, wäre vielleicht eine Alternative.

[Windkind]

Hi Moosedude,

I understand that up to two weeks Your wife was home all day with the three dogs, but now suddenly, they alre alone all during the day locked in the apartment?

The dogs are bored! They sleep as long as they can, and then look for interesting things to do. What can they do wihthin an apartment? Search for food-like things and work on handling any obstacles getting there!

Some dogs get along better with boredom and confinement than others.

They also might miss their "Frauchen" with all the attention they got from her all during the day.

To put out of reach any interesting things like "gelber Sack" or trash or sweets is possible, it is better to lock the "gelber Sack" into the krate than the dog! Good idea!

If you can afford it is a dog-sitter, who takes the dogs out for a while, surely helpful! My dogs are, becourse I am single and working, also alone all day, but they are outside in the garden, where they have more to do than if locked inside the house.

Have You tried to hide goodies - many! each morning before leaving - within the house, or filling a plastic-bottle with dry food for the dogs to play with (or You can buy special balls in pet-shops, that are very durable and can be filled with dry food)?

[moosedude]

Thank you everyone for the responses, and suggestions.

Ok, so far this weekend, I have left several times (testing different ideas), and only the first time did I have a problem.

This is what I did:

Put everything that I do NOT want them to attack/eat/destroy ... up out of their reach.
I also gave them plenty of treats (dried lung, dried chicken stripes, dried Pansen ...). I left for upto 4 hours, and there were no problems!
The only time there was an accident was when I took FeeBee out the door, and Toffee and Pepponi saw me! They thought I was taking her for a walk or something (she had to goto the Tier Artz for her tooth)..

I also blocked off the areas I do not want them to go - put up a child proof wodden fence and tied it to the walls (so it could not be knocked down), and closed the other doors.
So far, so good.... I will see tomorrow how it goes...


I need to find either a dog trainer, or dog sitter here in the Bad Kreuznach area. Can anyone recommend a good trustworthy person/place, who can speak some English?


I will also look into the toys to keep him busy. I am just not too sure about food while I am gone... someone might choke on a peice while I am gone...

Thank you!
Moosedude (Shannon)